Helping a Friend
by TheGreatDekuTree
Summary: Highschool AU in which Soul finds himself in an abusive relationship, and Maka must decide how to go about helping him without developing any feelings of her own.
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

Chapter 1: Prologue

Maka's POV

Soul had been my friend for a very long time, since we were around 10. Our fathers were friends, and often I was dragged into going to the small parties his family threw. There were usually four or five families invited, and everyone would bring food. The adults and teenagers would sit around a large table that fit cozily in their small dining room, while he and I would sit at a small table in the adjoining living room. His mother would turn on a "perfectly lovely" show for us to watch, but looking back on it, I'm fairly certain it was really meant to drown out the drunken profanity that was being spewed by the men. We were awkward with one another at first, but soon we started getting along and sneaking off to his room to play video games. I started going over there on weekends when there weren't parties, just to hang out; then I started visiting after school also, and by the time we hit eighth grade I was at his house practically everyday.

There had never really been anything romantic between us. Sure, hormones were crazy, but neither of us saw the other one as anything special. He called me a bookworm and told me I had fat ankles, and I called him lazy and nagged him to study more. We fought a lot and were often not on good terms, but at the end of the day we were there for each other and always got over any arguments. The first time he was asked out by a girl in freshman year I felt a small tang of jealousy, but that could just be chalked up to my worries that I might have lost him as a friend. It was also a little less than a year after my parents' divorce, and I was quick to assume infidelity in men due to my father's newly discovered habit of sleeping around behind my mother's back. Ultimately Soul's relationship lasted no more than a few weeks and nothing extraordinary came of it.

After sophomore year Soul and I both wanted to attend a pretty prestigious high school a few hours away from our town. The school was meant to accept students from all over the nation so within its campus were apartments for sale. After begging my dad and his parents for weeks they finally decided that they'd pay for us to live in one of them. The semester started in late August, and we were set to move into our new place in July so that we'd be completely settled. The apartment was somewhat like a dorm in that it was partially furnished. There was a living room, kitchen, bathroom, and two bedrooms. The living room had a couch and tv, the kitchen had all the necessary appliances, and each bedroom had a twin sized bed along with a matching bookshelf and desk. Soul decorated his grey walls with music posters and filled his bookshelf with nicknacks and pictures. He had an electric keyboard off in one corner of his room, and his desk was covered with stray papers, sketches, and random textbooks; his floor was littered with dirty and clean clothes, and his bed was never made. My pale green walls were nearly empty, and my bookshelf was overflowing causing me to have neatly stacked books filling any unused areas. My desk and bed were kept clean, and my closet was perfectly organized. We met somewhere in the middle for the living room with posters hanging on the walls and a shelved coffee table filled with books.

We were happy when school started, and we ended up in the same class. We made friends quickly, and by Halloween Soul had his first serious girlfriend. Her name was Kate, and, to me, she was absolutely gorgeous. She was pale with long, messy hair that was light brown near the top and black at the ends. Her eyes were big and grey, her mouth was of average size with a slightly plump bottom lip, and her eyebrows were always perfectly arched and plucked. She was about two inches taller than me but still a good half a foot shorter than Soul. We met Kate after our school's October talent show in which she sang a relatively unknown Cage the Elephant song that Soul loved; he insisted we go talk to her to tell her how great she was, and I guess they really hit it off. Kate was cool with him having a roommate that was a girl and was at our apartment often to hang out with Soul. They seemed head of heels for each other, and up until that December night I thought nothing could possibly go wrong for them.


	2. Chapter 2

_Author's Note:_

_Hi guys, this is my first fic, so I hope you like it. I'll try to update once a week, but school can be crazy so we'll see what happens. Please feel free to review and correct me on anything._

_Also, I don't own Soul Eater or any of its characters._

_PS. Thank you so much for the reviews on the last chapter; it made me so excited to see that someone actually read it!_

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Chapter 2

Maka was sitting quietly on her couch, reading a book one of her professors had suggested to her. It was about a man who fought dragons and saved villages, although, according to her teacher, if one were to read deeper, they would come to realize that the man is unnecessarily slaying the dragons to satisfy his own ego. Maka wasn't exactly convinced, but the story was entertaining nonetheless.

It was winter, and there was a light dusting of snow outside, making her glad to be indoors with her fuzzy socks on. She had made herself a cup of hot cocoa and had decided to just relax today because Soul was at Kate's apartment, and Maka knew he wouldn't be back to bother her for a few hours. She read for a little longer and then took a nice hot bath. She got out and made something to eat, and she was just back to reading when she heard the front door fly open.

"Soul?" she said, surprised by his sudden entrance. He shut the door quietly behind him and began taking his shoes off absent mindedly.

"I'm back," he said monotonically. He seemed kind of off to Maka, but she dismissed it as annoyance with the current below-freezing temperature.

"Did you have a nice time at Kate's place? Did she like the cookies I sent with you?" Maka started to think she was sounding like a mom asking her son about school.

He looked at her expressionless for a bit before pulling his mouth into a sloppy grin. "Everything went great, Maka." Then he stiffly turned around and walked into his room. She stared after him for a while before shrugging and returning to her book.

Maka heard no noise coming from Soul's room for at least an hour; she decided it would be best to check on him so she got up and walked to his door. She still heard absolutely no noise, no light snoring, no soft music, no angry rustling of papers. She knocked, disrupting the silence. No response came from the other side so she became worried and figured she should go on in to make sure Soul was still alive. He was sitting on his bed with his feet resting on the floor, staring at the wall. He made no reaction to Maka's entrance so she slowly went and sat next to him. "Are you alright, Soul?"

He nodded, but of course she highly doubted it was sincere. "Did you and Kate fight? You didn't break up, did you?"

This time he looked up at her and shook his head. "It's all my fault," he said, voice hoarse.

"I'm sure that's not true. It can't be _all _your fault. Unless you cheated on her... but I know you would never do that." Maka had started to lightly rub his back in an attempt to make him feel better.

Soul shook his head again and shut his eyes. "You don't get it. It's my fault. She's right; I'm a horrible boyfriend. I just didn't want to make her mad, but she's right. I don't care enough. I don't show enough love for her. I'm so insensitive; I deserve anything she does to me."

"What? Soul, did she do something to you?" She asked, confused by his choice of words.

Soul sat up straight and opened his eyes quickly. He looked at Maka, and she thought she saw fear in his expression before he smoothly lifted one eyebrow. "No. Of course not. We just got in a small fight. No big deal, really."

"But you seemed pretty upset just now, and-"

"Maka. Stop. I said it wasn't a big deal. You don't need to worry about anything," he said, cutting her off and standing up. "Now, I'm going to go shower, so you should leave."

"But Soul I-"

"Really, everything is fine," he cut her off again, but this time he smiled lightly while he spoke.

She was a bit unnerved by his sudden change in demeanor, but Maka complied and left his room without a word. She wasn't sure what had really happened between Soul and Kate. Soul seemed very shaken by it, but he also seemed unwilling or maybe unable to talk about it. She wandered back into her room before remembering she left her book on the couch. On her way to get it she passed the bathroom. The door was slightly open, and she saw Soul standing shirtless, brushing his teeth. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw a large bruise along his hip and stomach that looked to be caused by being kicked.

"Soul..."

His head whipped towards her voice, and he stared at her in shock for a second then quickly slammed the door in her face.

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_This chapter is kind of short, but the next one will be longer hopefully. I just didn't want to keep people waiting. Please let me know what you think, even if you hate it!_


	3. Chapter 3

_Sorry for the wait! School's really crazy with AP exams coming up so it's hard to find a good time for writing, but I'll try to get chapters out quickly. Thank you to everyone who reviewed. It means so much to me. Enjoy~_

_I do not own Soul Eater._

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Chapter 3

Soul had brushed off the large bruise on his stomach. He had said that he got in a wrestling match with his friends and things had gone too far. Maka wasn't the least bit convinced, but she allowed his lie to slide because obviously it wasn't something he was ready to talk about. Also she had no other reasonable explanation. She doubted he got into an actual fight; Soul was a very relaxed guy and rarely showed any strong emotion, therefore picking a fight with any of the guys at school was unthinkable. She really couldn't think of anyone who would kick Soul that hard.

On Monday they walked to school as they normally did, dressed in their school uniforms. Soul had on a black polo, khaki pants, and white and black checkered vans, while Maka had on a black hoodie, a red plaid skirt, and clunky black tennis shoes. The second they got in the door he ran off, and Maka assumed he was off to find Kate. That thought made her consider the things Soul had said Saturday night when she went into his room. _Who had he been talking about? Had it been Kate? Was she mad at him? Did she hurt him?_ Maka quickly dismissed the last question. Of course Kate hadn't hurt him; she was so nice and cool that Maka found it difficult to believe that she would ever lay a finger on someone else. _However, if it wasn't Kate, then who was it?_

She pondered this as she made her way to her locker. They had arrived an hour early so that she could go study in the classroom while he went off and did whatever. Sometimes he played piano in the music room, and other times he went to the art room and sculpted. Although no matter what, he always showed up with Kate on his arm. When Maka was done gathering her things she went off to class. She sat in the back, as always, and read; girls came up to talk to her every once in a while, and she was polite but was honestly more interested in her book than in being social. Maka liked the people in her class, but she never felt the need to be surrounded by them. She talked to Soul more than anyone else. Although he was the complete opposite in this aspect; he was constantly with someone, whether it be a group or just one close friend, he was never really alone. Even though he let everyone around him talk while he simply observed, he still somehow managed to seem actively engaged in conversations. He was easygoing and cool, and that made everyone naturally gravitate towards him.

On that particular rainy day he seemed very protective. Kate and he were talking to some of her friends, and he had his arm wrapped tightly around her waist. He would shift himself to be always facing whomever they were talking to. Kate would laugh cheerily, but Soul would merely grin and look down at her nervously. Of course no one but Maka noticed these changes in Soul's behavior. She had been his friend for a long time and knew how he usually acted. This made her think again of his massive bruise. Maybe he had gotten it defending Kate. That would explain why he didn't want to talk about it; knowing Soul he probably blamed himself for not fixing whatever had happened before it started. It also explained his attachment to Kate; he could be worried that she might get in trouble again. Maka nodded, satisfied with her keen deduction skills and decided to ask Soul once they got home.

She spent the rest of the day paying close attention in class, trying not to think about her upcoming confrontation of Soul. She knew she might start to worry about whether or not it was any of her business, and that could cause her to chicken out which ultimately wouldn't be good. She needed to make sure he was okay. When school was over he met her at her locker.

"Hey, you ready to go?" he asked.

"Yeah. Do you want to head straight home or grab something to eat?"

"Uhh," he paused, seeming to weigh the options thoroughly. "Let's just go home; I'm beat."

When they got to the apartment Maka dropped her bag in her room and headed to the kitchen to make herself some tea. She was stirring in sugar and milk when she felt her elbow hit something behind her, then she heard a gasp of pain and turned around quickly to see Soul clutching his stomach.

"Idiot, why were you standing right behind me?"

"I just wanted to see what you were doing," he said, sounding pained.

"Did I hit your bruise?" she asked, and he nodded. She sighed. "Let me see how bad it's gotten. I can help you put ice on it."

"No, really it's fine," he said shaking his head and backing up.

"Soul, just let me help you. I'm your friend; it's my job."

He looked hesitant, but agreed quietly to let her see. He quickly pulled off his shirt, Maka closely inspected his torso. The blues and reds had deepened and the whole area looked to have swelled. She poked it lightly only to be yelled at by Soul for "hurting him intentionally". She started preparing ice to help make the swelling go down. "Um, look I don't believe you about getting into a fight with your friends. I know you wouldn't do something so stupid. Do you want to talk about what actually happened?"

"No, Maka, this really isn't something you need to make a big deal of. It's my own fault I got it," he said, his eyes looking tired.

"Well I was thinking about it and trying to figure out what actually happened, and you seemed really possesive of Kate today, so I thought maybe you got in a fight to protect her or something. If that's it you can tell me; it's not your fault I'm sure," she said as she lightly pressed the ice on his bruise making him wince.

"Maka, please drop it. I can't talk to you about this," he said. He looked so sad, and she wanted nothing more than to make him feel better. She stood up straight and wrapped her arms around his neck. He dropped his forehead onto her shoulder and let out a shaky breath.

"Soul, what is happening?"

"I can't," he whispered weakly into the crook of her neck. She sighed and stroked his hair. She decided to let him sort this out for now, knowing that questioning him any further would only make him upset.

"Why don't I make dinner tonight?" she asked. He slowly brought his head up.

"That'd be great," he said with a small smile before slipping his shirt back on carefully and leaving the kitchen.


	4. Chapter 4

_I do not own Soul Eater._

_Enjoy~_

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Chapter 4

Maka decided to let it go. It broke her heart that Soul didn't feel like he could trust her with whatever was going on, but that didn't change the fact that he felt like he had to deal with this on his own. She had always been there for him, and now maybe he just didn't need her. She avoided that thought by pretending nothing was wrong. She read more than usual, staying up until she knew she'd be asleep before her head hit the pillow, as to avoid thinking about Soul too much. She even walked home without him more often and spoke to him only when she needed something. He was with Kate much more now, and they rarely came to Maka's and Soul's apartment. He would get in late and head straight to his room, not even bothering to let her know he was home. They were truly growing apart alarmingly quickly.

However that changed one day, almost three weeks since Soul had received the bruise. Maka had left her room around 11:30 for a late night snack, and was standing in the kitchen stirring some instant noodles. She was pretty tired and not entirely sure why she had suddenly gotten an intense longing for noodles, but that didn't really matter to her. Once she finished cooking she settled down in the living room with her meal and was just about to take the first bite when Soul came in the front door. She looked up at him absentmindedly, and he stared back at her blankly. Her eyes then widened when her brain kicked in and registered the bleeding gash under Soul's eye.

"Soul, what is _that_?" she asked hoarsely.

"I- um... it's nothing. I just.. uh.. fell," he said. He seemed very tired, almost like it took all of his energy just to speak.

Maka got up quickly and inspected the wound. It looked deep, and had it been an inch higher it would've blinded him. She couldn't figure out what might have caused it; broken glass maybe could've done it, but Maka couldn't be sure. Then she inhaled and caught a whiff of alcohol.

"Soul, let me smell your breath," she said as his attention snapped back to her face. He gave her an almost weirded out look, but obviously was too worn out to argue so instead just exhaled slowly out of his mouth. Maka sighed with relief. "Your breath doesn't smell like alcohol, but your clothes do. Who was drinking?"

"Does it matter?" His eye darted to the floor.

"Yeah, it does. Were you with Kate? Was she drunk? Who cut your face?" Maka folded her arms across her chest and looked at him expectantly.

"Maka," he sighed, "I told you to drop it. Kate was a little drunk, I accidentally got cut. It's nothing to worry about."

She studied his face for a few seconds. He looked exhausted. She almost didn't recognize him; there was no hint of a smirk playing at his lips, his hair was flat, and his eyes looked dull, without the sharp life she always saw in them. She could've questioned him further, but most likely he would've gotten annoyed and closed himself off from her even more. So she decided to be the friend he needed right then.

"Just let me help you clean it," Maka grabbed Soul's hand and took him into the kitchen. "Sit on the counter; I'll go get the first aid stuff."

She left and came back to the kitchen with bandaids and hydrogen peroxide. She wet a washcloth and began to wipe away the blood. While she was cleaning his face she spilled a little water on his jacket. "Soul, take your jacket off."

"No it's fine. Please just clean this up so I can go to sleep," he said quickly.

"Soul. Your jacket's wet, take it off. It's pretty cold in here, and it'll take two seconds," she said, slightly annoyed with him for being difficult.

"I'm not taking the jacket off, just hurry up, ok?" his voice shook a little as his spoke, and he avoided Maka's intense stare. She grabbed the lapels of his black hoodie and quickly tore the garment off of his shoulders. After some more arguing she finally got the wet hoodie off. She immediately regretted it. His arms were covered in bruises and cuts and scratches. There were finger shaped bruises around his wrists, and it looked like he had been burned by something on his forearm.

"Soul... what the hell?" she choked out. _Who had done this to him?_ She had a pretty good idea, but it hurt her to think someone he trusted would do this to him. Kate seemed like a loving girlfriend, but if she was capable of this then Maka had no idea what kind of girl she really was. She looked up at Soul's face. He looked back down at her somewhat resigned. "Are there more?" she squeaked.

He didn't answer so she started to pull off his shirt. This time he didn't fight her, just lifted up his arms to make things easier. When she saw what was underneath she felt tears stinging her eyes. He had deep cuts and more bruises and burns. "Soul..", she could feel tears rolling down her cheeks.

He wiped one of her tears with the pad of his thumb and tilted her chin up so that she was looking at him. He pulled his lips into a small smile that she suspected was meant to ease her worries. "Maka, I'm sorry you have to see this, but I deserve all of this. You have to understand."

"Did Kate do this? What could you possibly do to deserve all this?" Maka yelled, but he winced when she raised her voice. Soul had never looked so broken and afraid. She stepped closer to him so that she was in between his legs with her stomach resting against the edge of the counter. She stroked his cheek with one hand and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. Please, tell me what's going on."

Soul didn't answer. He shut his and leaned back so his head rested on the cabinet behind him. Maka saw tears forming in the corners of his eyes, and she decided he needed rest. She pulled him off the counter and into his room. He seemed to be somewhat out of it so she grabbed a soft tee shirt and slowly pulled it over him so as not to cause him any pain. He was still crying silently as she lead him to his bed. Once he was in bed she turned to leave, but before she made it to the door she heard him call her name quietly.

"What is it, Soul? Do you need something?" she asked as she went back to stand next to him. Once again he didn't answer, he just grabbed her wrist. She could tell he didn't want to be alone, and honestly she didn't feel right leaving him anyway. She lifted up the blankets and climbed in next to him. He wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in the nape of her neck, reminding her of a scared child. She ran her fingers through his hair until she felt his breathing calm down and she could tell he was asleep. _Maybe tomorrow he'll talk to me..._

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_Let me know what you guys think! I'm sorry this is extremely late, I'm a horrible person._


	5. Chapter 5

_I'm sorry! This is like 6 months late..._

_I do not own Soul Eater._

_Enjoy~_

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Chapter 5

Maka got absolutely no sleep that night. Between trying to figure out what was happening to Soul and having a small heart attack everytime he would move around, the sun was up before she knew it. When the clock read 7 am, she tried to slip out of Soul's tight grasp without waking him. Of course she was unsuccessful. Before she was even out of his arms his eyes opened ever so slightly and he let out a low groan. "Maka? What are you doing here?"

"Uh... You kinda pulled me into your arms. I think you thought I was a pillow," she said, trying to laugh it off.

Soul'd eyes widened in horror. "No. I'm so sorry Maka, I-" he stopped short. He had tried to sit up quickly and had obviously disturbed one of his many injuries. He gasped and held his stomach. Maka also sat up and looked at him, unsure how to help in this situation.

"I don't think we're going to school today. I'll call the office and tell them we're both sick or something." She hated skipping class, but in this case she felt it was absolutely necessary. She got out of the bed and tried to walk out of the room but felt a clammy hand grab her wrist roughly.

"We have to go today. She'll think I told. Maka, we _cannot_ skip," Soul said, his eyes darting everywhere around the room, his breath short and loud.

Maka leaned down next to the bed and calmly put his hand on his leg. Soul was breathing sporadically and he seemed to be close to tears. His eyes were still moving about, but they seemed glazed over like he wasn't really taking in any of his surroundings. He was also shaking violently. His change in demeanor had been so sudden, and she had never in her life seen him like this, but from what she had learned in health classes, it looked like he was having a panic attack. She put her hands on his cheeks and turned his head to face her's.

"Soul, look at me. I need you to breathe. You're safe. I'm going to count to six. You need to breathe in until I'm done." She did this and it took a few tries, but he eventually took in a full breath of air. "Ok. Good job. You're doing fine. Now do it again, but this time take until the count of ten to breathe it out." They did this a few times until he was breathing normally.

"Maka, I'm so sorry," he said quietly. She smiled at him and let go of his face.

"You did great. Now, I'm not giving you an option. We are definitely staying home today." She got up, ran to her room, grabbed her phone, and ran back to Soul. He looked distressed, sitting in a hunched over position rubbing his temples. She lightly touched one of his hands and slid her fingers in between his in an attempt to calm him down. It seemed to work a little because he started playing with her fingers instead of roughly rubbing his face.

While he was occupied she dialed the school's number. The receptionist picked up after the second ring. "Hello, front office. May I help you?"

"Hi. My name is Maka Albarn. I need to call in to let you know the Soul Evans and I will be absent today. He seems to have a bad cold, and I'm fairly certain it's contagious so I might have already caught it."

"Alright, I'll let the attendance office know. You two feel better."

"Yes, thank you," Maka said and then ended the call. "Okay, Soul. Can you stand? I need to dress some of those wounds, and I'll make you food, alight? Whatever you want."

He looked up her. His face looked beyond relieved, like he might start crying. "Thank you. You mean so much to me, Maka, you have no idea." He stiffened after saying this, seeming to realize how uncool he sounded. He got up and walked past her. "I gotta take a piss."

He left Maka, blushing all the way to her ears standing alone in his bedroom. _Oh my god._

* * *

_Maybe some romance is starting to blossom? _

_Anyway, I know this is short. I don't really have an excuse. I'm sorry._


	6. Chapter 6

_I do not own Soul Eater_

_Enjoy~_

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Maka had dressed all of Soul's many wounds and was making scrambled eggs at the stove. _Why am I still blushing? _Her hand traveled to her still slightly warm cheeks. The whole time she had helped him with his injuries, Maka had been very aware of just how shirtless Soul was. This had never bothered her before, but something in the way he had said she meant a lot to him had filled her with a bubbly feeling that she just couldn't shake. _I know he meant that I'm a valued friend, but he's never looked at me with such a soft expression before. He wasn't even smirking, it was an actual smile. _She felt a small grin tug at her lips before the situation she was in hit her. _Soul's injured. Why am I smiling like a fool when my best friend is going through something so awful? I'm a terrible person._ She sighed and dumped the finished eggs onto a plate. She poured a glass of water and brought both to Soul who was sitting on the couch in the living room. She let him finish eating while she thought of what to say.

"You need to tell me how you got hurt. What's happened in the past few weeks to cause you to get so many wounds?" She adjusted herself next to him so that they were facing each other on the couch.

He sighed and opened his mouth. He shut it though and seemed to ponder what he should say for a minute or two. "I'll tell you, but you have to promise that you won't act on anything," he finally said, looking at her pleadingly.

"Soul... I really don't know that I can promise that."

He looked disappointed. "I can't tell you if you won't promise. I don't know that I'll be able to explain things the right way, and you might not blame the right person. I need you to give me something. I need to know I can trust you."

She could tell he wanted to tell somebody about what was happening. He almost seemed to be pleading with her to let him tell her. She wanted more than anything to hear him out and be there for him, but then what? She knew that she would want whatever was happening to be solved, which would definitely involve someone close to Soul getting in trouble. How could she possibly keep a promise like this? On the other hand, how could she possibly not? Her best friend in the entire world was asking her to let him trust her, and she knew he had absolutely nowhere else to turn.

"Okay. I will not act on what you tell me," she sighed, trying her best to ignore the horrible pit in her stomach.

Soul let out a breath as if he'd been holding it for ages, and his face seemed to relax. "Thanks, Maka."

She grabbed one of his hands and gently squeezed it before forcing the most reassuring smile she could manage. "It'll be alright; just tell me what's going on. Please."

"Alright, but you need to just let me talk. Don't interrupt; you can say what you need to when I'm done." He waited for her to nod. He took a deep breath and continued, "Kate is the one who's been causing these injuries. But before you make any judgments, they're all deserved. She doesn't tell people, but she's got really bad depression, she takes pills for it and junk. I didn't know until we had dated for a month. Sometimes she just gets really distant and doesn't say much. Other times she needs you to be there for her, to tell her she's going to be okay and that the world isn't falling down all around her, but you can't be too optimistic or she'll know you're lying and you can't be too negative or she'll start spiraling and you have to hold her but you can't touch her if she doesn't want you to and you just have to know, Maka, I don't know, I can't know, how would I-" Soul stopped when he felt Maka grab his hand that he had been roughly running through his hair. She wasn't used to him talking so fast or so much, and she knew he wasn't quite in his normal state of mind. He shut his eyes tightly, and seemed to try to clear his head because when he opened them again his brows weren't furrowed and his eyes were no longer darting around the room wildly.

"Sorry. Anyway, the point is, I'm not great at helping her when she needs me. I try, trust me, I try as hard as I can to learn all the little signs and say exactly what she needs me to, but it's a lot. When I mess it up and just make her feel worse, she takes it out on me sometimes. How can I blame her though? I'm her boyfriend. It's my job to always make her life better. She's got a lot to deal with, and I should never make it harder for her. So when I do, aren't I driving her to violence? She's got to show me that what I did was wrong, that I'm not treating her right. It's my fault. I know you'll want to be mad at her, but please, be mad at me. I need to shape up so that Kate will feel better, and I won't get hurt, and you won't have to worry. So please, tell me again you won't do anything. Please, Maka."

Maka stared at him for a few seconds. She felt so much anger towards Kate, but she was doing everything she could not to show it. She could tell by how nervously he looked at her that she couldn't say anything except what he wanted to hear. "I won't break my promise to you, Soul."

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_Thank you guys so much for all the reviews. I'm literally blown away that anyone is reading this._

_Please let me know what you think! I'm sorry again that I'm a piece of trash about writing in any sort of timely manner. _


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